We Sounded The Alarm, And You Did Not Rise Up

In Matthew 11:17, Jesus speaks of the people of his day and says “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We sang a dirge and you did not mourn.” If any call to be made to the people of our day, it would be “We sounded the alarm, and you did not rise up.” We are doing nothing in a crisis.

I was shopping at a mall today and stopped to get some lunch and sit down with my book. Sometime while I’m there, an alarm starts playing and lights start flashing. For awhile, I could not even understand the automated message that was playing, but eventually I made it out to say something like “An emergency has happened in the building. Evacuate immediately. Do not use the elevators.”

Here’s what was readily noticeable though. No one moved.

It’s got to that point where we don’t respond to such alarms. Where I live, I hear sirens going by regularly. Sadly, I hardly stop and say a prayer even though I’ve called the siren the anthem of where I live. We used to think car alarms would be a great idea, but nowadays, they are an annoyance. If someone was stealing a car, you’d never really notice it. The alarms are just ignored.

I did look around some and watch the security at the mall today when this happened. This is a natural tendency of mine that I want to know what’s going on and see if there’s anything I could do. As one in ministry also, I realize that my skills could be needed if someone needs someone like that. Then, there’s also my adventurous side that wants to be in the thick of things.

But while this was going on, I thought it was a picture of our times. Only one person stopped to asked me what was going on, and I had no clue. Everyone else was going about their lives. They were still entering various stores and still shopping. It was as if the alarm meant nothing.

Friends. We are living in a time of crisis with spiritual alarm. Unfortunately, we are not responding. It is always “someone else’s business” or “something we can’t handle.” It makes me think of the line though in Esther, “Who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Let’s look at some things that are going on.

God is continuously being removed from the public square.

Naturalists are seeking to take over the realm of science.

Philosophers (And I say this as one) have many of their number trying to break away objective morality.

School shootings are on the rise.

Postmodernism is making us doubt the existence of truth itself.

Homosexuality is seen as normal and homosexual marriage is readily accepted by several.

Thousands of babies are murdered every day in abortion clinics.

Divorce is ending most marriages that start.

Several children are born out of wedlock today not knowing who Daddy is.

Sex is no longer sacred but just something that you do.

Theology in the church is getting more and more liberal denying essential doctrines.

Islam is rapidly being accepted in America.

Friends. This is crisis time. We have too many people ignorant of everything, and this applies to Christians. Christians are sadly some of the most ignorant. There are many atheists I think that know the bible better than Christians. Why else are so many Christians so surprised and don’t know how to answer the conquest of Canaan?

Are we responding though? We need to instead of just going about our lives. We should always be aware that we are in a war and always be ready to do our part. We might have to take up our spiritual arms at any time.

Let’s be sure we do. I know I want to be a soldier who pleases my commanding officer. Don’t you?